While I was battling the winds outside, Jo was demonstrating how to slice some of the best smoked salmon we have ever created…

Smoky Jo slicing salmon smoked in Freddie the Filing Cabinet

I took the cold-smoking opportunity to experiment with biltong.  I made up my own sweet pickle brine with some home brewed red wine, cold smoked and air dried it to produce this…

Home made Smoky Geo's Biltong

…  it wasn’t dry right through, however, so I cut it into smaller pieces and popped it in the bottom left (coolest) oven on the Aga overnight..

It’s not pefect, but I like it, very beefy, a bit spicy , good and chewy and I’m looking forward to adding it to stews etc!

The wind just kept getting stronger and stronger and it didn’t matter which way we turned the smokers, the fires started to flame or the wind blew the smoke the wrong way through the smokers.  The wind was too strong to put the canopy up so finding shelter was increasingly difficult.  We had different smokers strategically positioned all over the garden and garth to find the best places for smoking.

With food for a full weekend smoking course including salmon, olives, prawns, garlic, sausages ham and much more Smoky Georgina had her work cut out.  With the help of Mac’s cold smoke generator -  the shelter of a horse chestnut tree and very skillful smoking she managed to produce a feast of wonderful succulent smoked food that was enjoyed by everyone.

Bravo Smoky Georgina!

Last week end instead of going for a hike we went round Farfield Mill craft centre and came across another use for smoke – Rita Buckley creates rather beautiful smoke fired ceramics!

Smoky Jo’s Home Page

“We built ( we have yet to name it)………….. on Sunday and experimented with our first smoking. We are delighted to announce the launch of our new business enterprise, The Smoked Cheese Fondue Company. Yes, you guessed it – a combination of beautiful weather and not getting the charcoal/ sawdust mix quite right had an undesired effect on the fromages. They taste wonderful though, so we think we are going to market them through the RNIB! Smoked pork loin and sausages worked very well, and duck breasts and rack of ribs in the freezer ready for hot smoking this weekend, along with putting all this on the blog.

We like our new toy

R”

When Jo and I ran The Old Smokehouse at Brougham Hall I remember one hot summer’s day (there weren’t many more than one!) having rather melted  smoked Stilton dripping through the racks…. we carved off the drips and took them home.  This was to the delight of our then neighbours – Simon was in raptures as he scooped up mouthfuls,  “Oooh! It’s like walking through the Black Forest…!”  We had no idea what he was talking about, but he was washing it down with some red wine…. He and Elizabeth have since moved to France to get closer to les Fromages et du Vin… and, incidentally have a lovely Gite!

I have been thinking about why these one and two day courses are such fun – and my conclusion is -

It is down to the really lovely people who come on them! We meet such great people through Smoky Jo’s.

Thanks everyone – your enthusiasm, general ability to have fun, and enjoyment of food make running these courses a real pleasure.

Smoky Jo.

“Hi Georgina and Jo,

Just a quick note which I have been meaning to send for a while.

Have been having great success with my ProQ, which has been in near constant use since last November.  I even have a commission to produce a whole heap of smoked garlic to be marketed on a charity Christmas stall.  Only minor disaster so far as been some filet steak, which I brined for too long – still edible but not quite the effect I was looking for!  Biggest success are the various cheeses and mackerel (cold followed by hot smoking).

Anyway great fun and great food!

One extra item has been absolutely invaluable – the ProQ cold smoke generator. This makes my ProQ genuinely both a cold and hot smoker and I would really recommend this simple piece of kit.

Best wishes

Richard”

You can see our review of the smoke generator on an earlier post